01280pab a2200169 454500 180718b2005 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Vinay Lal Torture: an American success story 2005 p.1009-011. 12 Mar Part of the extraordinary success of the US democracy resides in the fact that its political rituals preclude any real possibility of the emergence of dissent and are designed to reinforce conformity and consensus. The singular fact remains that well over 95 per cent of all presidential nominees to cabinet-level positions in the course of American history have been confirmed by the senate, and Alberto Gonzales's confirmation as attorney general was a foregone conclusion. In many other countries, the disclosures that have taken place about Gonzales approving the use of torture might not have been at all possible. But is it not more scandalous that, knowing all that the American public does know about Gonzales and his ilk, it should make no difference. Torture now joins the never-ending list of American success stories. - Reproduced. United States - Politics and government Politics and government Economic and Political Weekly 64523 64523 64523 0 0 0 0 IIPA IIPA 2018-07-19 Volume no: 40, Issue no: 11 AR64975 2018-07-19 2018-07-19 AR